1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a skate boot and particularly to a skate boot of the type used for ice hockey.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hockey skate boots, presently, can be classified either as a molded skate boot, if the boot includes a molded plastics shell with an inner slipper or a leather boot if the skate boot is manufactured, using a last, with different materials including leather, nylon, fabric and fibre material inlays.
The molded plastic skate boot is usually molded in a two-part shell, including a lower and an upper pivotally mounted to the lower.
A separate slipper made of foam or the like material is provided within the shells adapted to form itself to the foot of the wearer. However, the skate is not fully responsive to the thrusts of the foot since some of the force being transferred to the foot laterally, or torque-wise, is being lost due to movement of the slipper relative to the plastic molded shell. This power loss is especially noticeable in high performance skates utilized by professional hockey players.
Furthermore, it has been observed that when the laces are being tightened to close the skate on one's foot, the distribution of the pulling forces caused by the laces tends to be equally distributed along the sidewalls of the lower where in fact it is preferable to have varying tension forces along different parts of the sidewalls. Although the slipper gets molded to the foot, the plastic shell does not in the light of its inherent rigidity. Furthermore, there is very little lateral flexibility in the area of the ankle. In power skating, acceleration is affected by the degree of flexibility in the ankle area of the boot.
Leather skates on the other hand require the use of a last and considerable, skilled, hand labor to construct. The cost of the material is high as well as the resultant labor. Although a leather skate boot has the advantage of molding itself to the foot, providing flexibility where necessary, it has a tendency to "break" or lose its strength in the ankle area and the area of the Achilles tendon. Leather breathes well, but it also wears more easily.